The meaning of not letting the lamps of the sanctuary go out - Ex 27:20-21 -

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/223577564367

 

>>And you shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may be set up to burn continually. In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute for ever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel. (Ex 27:20-21) <<​

 

The sanctuary is a very distinct and sacred place where God comes in and meets humans. The yard of the sanctuary is separated from the world by cloths of lenin. There is an altar for burnt offerings in the yard of the sanctuary, where the priest by day serves God burning various offerings the people of Israel brought.​

 

Wooden walls separate the Tabernacle from the yard. The Tabernacle has two places, the Holy of Holies and the holy place, which are divided by a curtain. There is a throne of God in the Holy of Holies. The Ark of the Covenant forms the throne. The upper golden board of the Ark of the Covenant is called the Mercy Seat. It has two cherub figures on its right and left ends. God is present on the Mercy Seat, on the cover of the Ark. The high priest enters the Most Holy Place once a year and sprinkles blood on the Mercy Seat to atone for the sins of Israel.

​

There are the table of Showbread, the altar to burn incense upon and the lampstand in the other room of the sanctuary. The priest laid new Showbread on the table every week. God said that the lamps here should not go out by night.

​

The Showbread was not laid on the table just as a ritual or just as a symbol. Just as we eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood when we eat the bread and wine, so God really eats the bread on the table (in some way). By day, God is served with offerings his people brought, on the yard, outside the Tabernacle. Now, what about by night?

 

When you close your store in the evening, you turn off the lights. You do not turn off the lights of the office if you're on duty there. 'Do not put out the lights of the holy place by night' means that you should not stop serving God because it is night. If you put out the lamps in the room where the table is set for God, what do you mean by that? Do you want him to eat or not to eat? In the sanctuary, God must be served without any deficiency, without any moment of negligence. To that extent, God wants to be so deeply respected, not neglected, all the time by humans. Since God is an invisible spirit, humans can easily overlook his presence and neglect to respect him. God does not want that.

​

God does not actually take and eat the Showbread himself, but he wants to be served by humans even through such religious laws. The Showbread comes to the priest later.​

 

p.s.

Today, is the church, as the sanctuary of God, functioning well as the sanctuary? God loves the saints, but he does not want them to try to break into his place. Are there holy things in the church which symbolize the existence of God? Is there a distinct place in the church that seems like the Holy of Holies? If there are not such things as represent the Holy of Holies or the throne of God (the Mercy Seat) in the church, perhaps you mean that God should hover in the air during the worship? If there are not an altar, a throne, and lamps, is it a church (a sanctuary) or a pastor's preaching hall?​

 

The church is the body of Christ. Therefore it must have at least these: a high platform at the front of the chapel, which is clearly distinguished from the seats of the saints, the cross symbolizing the grace of Jesus, three thrones symbolizing the presence of the Trinity, the altar on which the offerings of the saints are laid, and the candlesticks symbolizing the church's unceasing service to the God. And no one should not get into that holy place carelessly.